Jumping Through
by Starfevre
Summary: Time travel fic with a twist. Team Seven goes back in time with their memories during the battle with Uchiha Madara. At the same time, Seraph is traveling between dimensions and their energies collide, and with that comes unexpected consequences. Original character. First Story.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it's characters or plot. I aim to make no money off of this. Seraph and his peculiarities are mine though, please do not use them without permission.

First story, please take that into account when providing criticism. I'm all for constructive criticism (this whole prologue was rewritten because a reviewer wrote that I was too 'explainy' and I hope that this submission isn't that anymore. I have a big outline for the first few chapters so I'm hoping that I can do a chapter a month or so. Don't hold me to that though. Reviews are nice, please leave one even if it's just a few words.

Jumping Through – Prologue

The sky was still blue. Naruto was almost surprised by this, shouldn't it be a different colour when there was so much trauma to the earth and its inhabitants, his friends? Red perhaps for the blood that was spilling. There was a fire burning somewhere close, Naruto could smell it. It almost overpowered the smell of blood, his own and others. He knew that Sasuke was still fighting, he could hear the explosions. The blond could only hope that Sakura was still alive, they had been separated almost an hour previously. The army that the united ninja villages had produced was only straggling survivors now. He knew that Gaara was dead, he hadn't felt that distinctive hot sandy chakra for many minutes now. The Rookie 9 and Team Guy were scattered by the forces arrayed against them. The once confident Konoha forces now lay heavily injured or dead. If he looked to the side, he would be able to see Hinata's fallen figure, but he resolutely doesn't look. Couldn't look. If the numbness that has fallen over him was shattered, he didn't know what would happen. Naruto is startled by a kunai that was suddenly inches from his face and barely managed to dodge it.

"Am I losing your interest?" taunts a voice nearby. Uchiha Madara stands mere feet away, a very intent look on his unmasked face. "Or have you decided to give up? You can't beat me, you know. Look around you, your little friends are dead and even if you had another hundred years to prepare, I would still win." His spinning red Sharingan eyes rested on Naruto's abdomen briefly, the gaze seeming to burn through the fabric and into the seal hidden beneath it.

For once, Naruto remained silent, protests dying in his throat before they can come into being. He can feel that he is nearing the end of his seemingly limitless chakra supply. The healing powers of the Kyuubi inside of him having reached their limit, his wounds aren't closing as quickly anymore and the healing slows for each new wound he acquires. He doesn't want to admit to himself, hates his very thoughts and the feelings they bring to him, but a small voice inside has been telling him for a while now that it's over, this isn't the path to take, there is no winning, this is not the solution. But there is a tiny hope there also, something he is reminded of by Madara's words.

Seconds tick by as they stare at each other, the sounds of the fighting around them not enough to penetrate the heavy silence between them now. The fingers of Naruto's right hand move to touch his shirt above his heart and he knows what he has to do now, he only hopes that Sasuke and Sakura are still alive, and will forgive him for what he is about to do. Madara's eyes furrow slightly when he doesn't see the defeat he expects to see in Naruto's eyes. He jumps back to increase the distance between them as Naruto's hands begin running through seals and a faint blue and red haze condenses around him. Madara raises his eyebrows slightly and decides to wait to see what his last opponent will do on what he is sure will be his final strike before his wounds take him down and Madara can extract what he wants from Naruto's belly, the Kyuubi, and complete his plan. He smiles sadistically even as he grows curious about what is taking so many seals.

Naruto is thankful for the brief reprieve, it only needs to last a few minutes longer and his jutsu will be complete. As he reaches the last few seals and concentrates the last of his and what he can gather of the Kyuubi's chakra into the patterns to activate the hidden seal written on his heart, he suddenly smiles brightly. Madara, sensing the build up of chakra is too large and growing suspicious, suddenly has a bad feeling about letting this go on and flashes forward to interrupt him, but he realizes even as he does that he is too late. The purple haze of chakra suddenly flashes bright, blinding them both and Madara can barely even see when two beams part from the glowing boy and race off into the distance. He flashes into range to land a devastating blow but the glow brightens even further and there is an enormous explosion, throwing Madara back and he is saved from injury only because he activated his time-space jutsu at the last moment. As he rises to his feet again, his eyes search for his opponent in the deep crater that has formed from the formerly level ground, but there is nothing, not a body, not even ashes.

A few minutes previously, Uchiha Sasuke looks up from the body of his latest opponent to find himself surrounded, again, by three of the enemy. A frown creases his brow as he surveys what is lined up against him, weighing their probable actions against his current condition and not coming up with an answer he likes. His chakra is low, so many chidori through his blade and his fist are taking their toll and he is not without injury, though they are ignorable yet.

They attack and he quickly substitutes himself with one of his opponents when a kunai flies towards him, injuring that opponent, although unfortunately not fatally, and conveniently placing himself outside of their circle as well. He engages them in taijutsu and his speed is enough to carry him through, his sword parting flesh and his feet leaving bruises and broken bones in their wake. He makes short work of one…two…the third sneaks under his guard and lands a blow against his chest and he feels ribs break under the pressure. The enemy can't pull his hand back fast enough and suddenly loses it to Sasuke's blade, grunting at the sudden pain and jumping back cradling the now-bereft arm. Ignoring the stabbing pain and shortness of breath, Sasuke pursues, not letting the enemy retreat far enough to cauterize the wound. They play a quick game of cat and mouse, the enemy's arm leaving a thick trail of blood with every movement that quickens the enemy's heart. His adversary begins to slow and Sasuke sees his opening and quickly slices a hip, an arm, and ends with his sword impaled through the enemy's throat.

The immediate threat dealt with, Sasuke takes a moment to look around and put a hand to his broken ribs. He can feel one of them shifting, threatening to pierce a lung but he has long lost track of Sakura, the only one he knows for sure could have healed him. "Kuso," he swears at nothing. Seeing no one in the immediate vicinity about to attack, he closes his eyes and allows himself to pant, out of breath from the exertion and the pain. He sees a sudden bright light through his eyelids and opens his eyes just in time to be hit with a sudden beam of light and power. Shouting at the sudden surge of chakra throughout his body, he can feel himself losing consciousness and the last thing he senses before it all goes black is the curious feeling of dissolving, coming apart into particles and the sensation of moving.

Sakura looks up from the body she is tending, barely recognizable as Kiba. She forces the healing chakra to her hands and tries to close the wounds on his torso, knowing that it is only a stop-gap measure and he needs a real hospital with nurses and doctors that are not exhausted from fighting and healing. She doesn't even know if he wants to live, with Akamaru dead, sliced open from nose to tail, only meters away. The enemy is keeping away for the moment so she has a chance to concentrate on what she is doing and hopefully save the last friend that she knows for sure is alive. Well, that is not entirely true, the world hasn't ended yet and the moon is still in place so she knows that Naruto is still fighting at least, though where he is on the battlefield she does not know. Sakura finishes stabilizing Kiba and takes a moment to just breathe and looks around. The pinkette doesn't want to leave Kiba's ailing body out where anyone can stumble over it and reverse her hard work, but there isn't anywhere to take it. She supposes it is safe enough, since they are behind the lines of engagement for the present, the forces having surged forward past her position a while ago, leaving her behind. Sakura climbs to her feet and brushes off her knees with dirty hands, not effecting much change, but the habit is instilled from her normal tidiness. She climbs the hill in front of her, blocking her view of the engagement and stops to look, seeing a depressing sight in front of her. There are minor battles going on in her view, the forces of the Ninja Nations against the forces of the Akatsuki, and she knows that she should join one of them to help out, but she doesn't see anyone she knows in the fighting. Well, no help for it, she starts toward the nearest fight, trying to see which is friend and which is enemy when something makes her look to her side. Quickly coming toward her is a bright light that is so strong with chakra that she can feel it though it is quite far away yet. It seems to be aiming directly for her and she remembers some words of Naruto's from a talk between them and Sasuke that occurred days ago about a last resort jutsu, though he didn't specify exactly what it was, though they pressed, saying he wasn't even sure it would work and not to get their hopes up. As the light hits her and she starts to lose her mind to the pressure and feeling of dissolution, Sakura can only hope that this is that last resort and that it will work as Naruto intended.

Meanwhile, in another universe, a pale young man looks at the stars. All is peaceful and no movements or sounds disturb him in his contemplation. He stands motionless on a balcony of a fantastical palace, tens of stories above what should be a bustling city, but there the silence lingers also. He searches out familiar patterns and constellations, his breath misting slightly in the chilled air. Winter will arrive soon. Despite appearances, his mind is anything but calm. His tasks here are complete, but there are some enormous decisions to make and he needs to make them soon, before the food stores run out. Closing his eyes finally, he looks down, to the pack that is sitting by his feet. Though not large in appearance, there are enchantments on it that make it hold many times its size and it is filled with everything he can think that he will need for a long journey, one he might never return from. Though he expects that this place will always be but a few thoughts away, he doesn't intend to come back, not soon, possibly not for a long time. A gentle breeze ruffles his white hair as he sighs, standing there is only prolonging the inevitable. He must leave, there is no other choice. Grabbing the pack, light despite its contents, he moves inside and upward through a series of stationary stable portals to reach the roof of the palace, now hundreds of stories up. The city below seems so small from this height, and almost normal since the inhabitants that should live there would be too small to see.

For this first step in his journey, he has prepared what looks vaguely like a seal on the flat surface of the roof. If this works as he predicts, he will not need it again. The form of the magic to create this spell will be imprinted on his mind and he will be able to call on it at will in the future. This circle, this seal, is of his own devising and has never before been used, but he has not been called a genius in the past for nothing. He is confident that it will work, to take him elsewhere for he cannot stay here. He begins to pour power into the spell circle, carefully powering each part in order until finally it glows, full of magic, and pushes at his mind, metaphorically begging to be activated. He doesn't know where he will end up, only a vague sense of distance and time in his thoughts. He knows the theories of the places between dimensions as well as the most knowledgeable of his people, a lot of research went into this circle. The place between dimensions is as much time as it is distance and there are no straight lines between places at all, movement beyond the three dimensions of space easily done but not easily comprehended.

With one last breath and glance at the city below, he activates the spell circle and with a sense of finality, Autiri Seraph crosses the portal that will take him into another dimension entirely.

And somewhere in the ether, in the space between dimensions, where there is nothing and everything and suddenly more, 2 powers collide, both still on their prescriptive paths but altered slightly. And on a sunny, peaceful day, 4 sets of eyes slowly open.

And there you have it, the prologue to my first story. Again, if you read it, please leave a review, it doesn't need to be a long one, just an acknowledgement that this doesn't suck. Or if it does suck, you should tell me. I'm going through some rough times right now, emotionally, mentally, and financially, so this escape is nice, but I won't continue if no one likes it, what would be the point in that?


End file.
